This evening Stu and I took part in HOWL aquathlon. It’s the second year that the event has taken place and it was my second time taking part. Last year, I was pregnant when I took part, so I was grateful just to be able to do so. This year I was hoping that I would make it through the swim and would put in a good run leg.
Our lovely friend, Jez, has offered to babysit for us several times, so we decided to take his up on his kind offer. We figured that we shouldn’t be away from M for too long and if she was having a bad night then several of our other friends would be around to help out… plus Jez is a sporty guy (and amazing runner), so we thought he might like watching the aquathlon.
We registered at 6:30pm and the event wasn’t due to start until 7:30pm, so there was
As well as the individual competition, there were also team prizes up for grabs. We had assumed that the first two men and two women from each club would count as a team, but were told that we had to pre-register as specific teams. This proved to be a little challenging as no-one was sure of their rank within the club – especially as many people are significantly better at one of the disciplines. In the end, Stu and I were registered in STC’s team 2.
Most of my clubmates were representing Southampton Tri Club in their club lit, but I only own an STC gilet and I wanted to wear my lovely kit from The Athlete’s Palate.
I set up my stuff in transition and then had some more time to chat with friends. Before long it was time for the race briefing. I should have been fully focused, but I suddenly realised that my swimming hat was missing. Panic! Panic! Jez kindly ran over to registration and picked up another hat for me, so I was able to start thinking about the race. [As an aside, it was great that women were given blue hats and men had the red hats – such a refreshing change!]
After the briefing, we were straight into the lake for a deep water start, so there was a bit of a warm up. To my dismay, wetsuits had been banned. I really feel the cold when swimming (because I am sooooo slow) and I also appreciate the extra buoyancy, but there was nothing I could do about it, so I just got in.
I positioned myself towards the back, but was almost in line with the buoy as I didn’t want to swim any further than was necessary.
I found the swim challenging, although I managed to get into a rhythm. I had forgotten how much I enjoy open water swimming as it’s so peaceful. I didn’t see anything strange out of the corner of my eye – usually, I spy my hand a lake monster and get freaked out, but not today.
I knew I wasn’t going quickly and this was confirmed when I got clopped in the head by one of the leading ladies heading towards the end of their swim.
I acclimatised to the water temperature fairly quickly, but was disarmed by some of the extremely cold patches that we had to traverse. I had thought that the water would get stirred up a bit by all of us swimming, but that didn’t happen.
I didn’t have a very quick transition. I tried not to faff, but I did exchange a few words with spectators.
My running is significantly better than my swimming, so I was pleased to see some other runners up ahead who I was able to hunt down. I haven’t seen the splits yet, but I think my run was quite good.
On the second lap, there was a lady in a yellow top up ahead. I chased her for a significant portion of the second lap. In the end, she beat me by about 6 seconds and was 3rd V40 lady. Maybe next year, my swimming will be back on track and I’ll be able to chase her down!
Last year, I managed:
Swim time: 21:47
Transition time: 1:16
Run time: 30:06
Overall: 53:09
Here are my (provisional) results for this year (based on my Garmin):
Swim time: 21:12
Transition time: 01:05
Run time: 24:30
Overall: 00:46:44.274
So, it was a PB 😀
I was 16/21 senior ladies and 19/35 women.
It was also great to learn that Stuart was first V40 finisher – well done, Stu!
This week I’ve been down in Cornwall visiting my mum for her birthday. There are loads of events on this weekend (including Lordshill 10k and Southampton City Ride), but I had intended to do St Ives Biathlon. This is a race that involves running and swimming, not skiing and shooting. It’s a 2km run then a 1500m sea swim. I’ve been thinking about it for a couple of years, but in the end I didn’t pack my wetsuit as I thought a mile in the sea off the back of no open water swimming would be silly. I’m now feeling a bit of regret 😞
I looked up local races and found there was a 7 mile cross country race in Truro on Wednesday, so I planned to enter that… and then Stu struck gold. One of the Jubilee aquathlon races would be on on Wednesday night. Hurray!
Stu and I last did a Jubilee aquathlon back in 2013 before the beautiful lido was storm damaged. (It’s been repaired now). You can read my blogpost about it here: Swimming, cycling and running in Cornwall
I’ve not been training as much as I’d have liked this year, but I hoped that I could beat my times from 2013:
Swim: 4:39
Run: 17:30
Total: 22:09
We arrived at the pool fairly early as it is on the day entry only and is limited to 200 places. We had printed out forms in advance and completed our details. We’re both BTF members, so entry was only £7. We were allocated number 25 and 26.
After a long wait, Stu and I decide to set up in transition. I chose a spot fairly near to the steps from the pool and Stu went next to me. Last time, I was not set up in a convenient location, so I was hoping this would save me some time. Some teenage girls came and set up their kit next to me and had a long discussion about how ‘no-one wears socks’, which made me dither a bit… however, I decided that I would wear socks as I’ve not worn my shoes without them before and couldn’t cope with blisters at the moment.
The organisers have decided to try a new tactic this year by asking participants to self-seed (according to some times on the wall). I figured that I might take around 25 minutes because of my lack of training, so positioned myself reasonably near to the start. Stu was towards the back of the group.
The weather had been lovely all day, but by the time we were lined up on the side of the pool, it was overcast and getting a bit chilly. Fortunately, the water in the pool was thought to be over 20C.
Swimmers were set off at 30 second intervals, so there was a bit of a wait before it was my turn. Finally, I was off. The temperature in the pool was perfect and the visibility was good. It was hard not to get distracted by the lovely surroundings.
The Lido is triangular in shape and the race follows the sides of the pool, with some buoys to ensure that no-one cuts the corners. I was unable to catch up with the swimmer in front of me, but on the plus side, no-one passed me.
I climbed up the steps and had to shout my number to the marshals waiting by transition. I barely had enough breath to call out 26!
I removed my hat, goggles and earplugs, put on my socks and shoes, messed up mu Garmin (pause instead of transition – oops!) and was off.
There are a few flights of steps out of the lido and as it’s Golowan Festival (Cornish midsummer) this weekend, there were a few fairground rides to be dodged.
It was then out onto the promenade, which was made famous by the Newlyn School artist Norman Garstin in his 1889 painting ‘The rain it raineth every day’.
Although my swimming isn’t good, I knew that I ought to be able to catch up with some of the other participants on the run. It was a muggy evening and my breathing wasn’t great, but I soon got into my stride. I managed to pass the lady who had started immediately ahead of me, but then had to work hard.
I should have re-read my blogpost about the last time I did this event as yet again I was taken by surprise by the steps and shingle on the run!
I passed a few other female runners, before I was passed by a fast male runner. I then managed to catch up with and overtake the chap in the photo below.
Finally, the end was in sight and I put on a sprint finish.
I was delighted to find that my time compared favourably with my last attempt at this event
Swim: (4:39) 4:26 – 13 seconds quicker
Run: (17:30) 16:28 – 62 seconds quicker
Total: (22:09) 20:54 – 75 seconds quicker
I finished 75/120. 7/15 in my category (30-39) and 28/60 female.
After finishing, I went and watched Stuart do his swim and start his run. I then met up with my mum (who was walking my baby) and we watched Stu finish the race. He finished in 14th place in 16:16.
There are three other races in this series – I hope that I can at least do one more of them!
After feeling too tired to run on Monday, I arranged to meet my running buddy on Tuesday… but fate conspired against me and I didn’t make it, so I was pleased when Teri said that she could run on Wednesday.
I drove over to The Common and did a gentle warm up whilst waiting for Teri. Annoyingly, my Garmin 910XT is terminally ill and the buttons have become unresponsive, so none of my warm up was captured 😦
It’s been a while since Teri and I have been able to go out for a social run, so I really appreciated it. I hope it wasn’t too bad for her as she listened to me talk non-stop for almost 40 minutes, whereas I was not a good listener (sorry, Teri!)
It would have been possible for us to stay entirely on the flat, but after we’d done the first part of our run, I thought we might as well tackle the hill – at least I knew there’d be a downhill afterwards.
Teri had brought Lulu (her dog) with her, which meant that we had a couple of little breaks. However, I’m not used to running with a dog, so I would pause every now and again whilst Lulu stopped to sniff something as I was worried that we would somehow lose her. Luckily, she is a well-behaved dog, so she always came running after us.
By the time we got back to my car, my Garmin was saying that I had done 5.8km. I was a little tempted to jog up and down to make it say 6km, but I know I had run at least 200m before my Garmin started, and I needed to get home.
In the evening, we met a group of friends from Tri Club at a local pub. Everyone who came along is considering doing an Ironman or a half in 2017… and there were quite a few others who are interested, but were unable to attend. A large group of STC people have entered Ironman Austria, which sounds lovely, but I think the logistics of travelling overseas with a young baby might be too much for me. Fortunately, Ironman Weymouth is unlikely to sell out, so I can make a decision much closer to the date about whether it’s a realistic goal. It’s not too difficult to find accommodation, plenty of my friends would be able to come and support and if I’m not ready for a full Ironman, there is a half taking place simultaneously. [Unfortunately, I’ve now heard that Ironman haven’t yet confirmed that there will be an event in Weymouth next year, so fingers crossed!]
Yesterday evening, I marshalled at an event for my other Tri Club – SUTRI. An aquathlon had been organised at the local lake for Freshers. It consisted of a 300m swim and a 2.5k run. I’d have loved to have taken part, but I’m not sure that my wetsuit would fit me, and I was afraid that the water would be too cold. (I was right to think that as it was a chilly 13C/55F – brrrr!)
Stu and I arrived at 5:30pm, but there weren’t many people around. During the day, quite a few people had dropped out. The main group was travelling by public Uni-Link bus. Unfortunately, they were travelling at rush hour and as it is the start of the academic year, the first bus that arrived was full, so they had to wait for another bus.
Eventually, it was agreed that there would be two waves for the event – the people who were ready at the lake and a second wave for the people who were stuck on the bus. This was mainly because the light was going and a long section of the run route is tree-lined, so it’s quite dark even on a sunny day.
I was marshalling at the first main turn. I took a camping chair with me as I wasn’t sure how long I would have to stand for and I get faint if I stand still for too long. The chair turned out to be unnecessary for two reasons: firstly, I was right by some picnic tables and secondly, it wasn’t long before the athletes came past.
I was sitting down when I saw the first runner, so I jumped up and got into position. It was only as the runner got very close that I realised it was Stu. I’ve not seen him wear the lovely tri top that he got at Ironman Copenhagen before. He was looking strong and relaxed… but I was too flustered to take a photo – oops!
When the tail runner came past, I asked him whether the late arrivals were going to be allowed to run, but he didn’t know, so I figured that I had better wait and see.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too long before I saw a girl in a trisuit coming in my direction, shortly followed by some lads. At the back of the pack, Stu was doing another lap as tail runner.
I picked up some route signs and cones and headed back to the start, arriving just as the final finisher came in.
A quick look at the results confirmed that Stu had won the event in 15:49. He had hoped to be quicker, but I think it’s harder to push yourself when there are no athletes around you (the faster people were mainly in the second wave). He also had a problem in transition as the zip on his wetsuit broke, so it took him quite a long time to get it off. (If anyone can give any recommendations for a man’s wetsuit, I’ll pass them on to Stu. He’s a strong swimmer [58 mins at Ironman Copenhagen – 3.8k]. He’s about 5’8″/173cm tall and weighs about 135lbs/9st9lb/60kg. He currently wears a 19 Rogue).
After the aquathlon, we stopped for a little while to talk to people from SUTRI and other friends who were arriving for a ‘Glow in the dark’ swim. It looked like a lot of fun, but was also a reminder that it’s the end of the open water swimming season here. I hope that by the time May comes around, I can get back into my wetsuit and will be able to join in the fun again.
Tonight’s excitement for the Smiths was an aquathlon at Lakeside. We both decided to do the sprint distance (750m swim; 5km run) and managed to get in the water before the start to acclimatise. Lack of time to acclimatise was something that I found difficult last year, but I think it was easier anyway tonight as the lake was quite warm.
In previous years, the swim has been anticlockwise in the lake, but this year it was clockwise, which helped as that’s the usual direction that we swim in.
The start of the swim was quite frantic (TryTri have shared a video) and I got a couple of fairly hard knocks to the head, which isn’t something I’m used to. I don’t think I’d positioned myself well and should probably have started further back.
I quickly got into a comfortable rhythm and managed to maintain it for the whole swim.
I had two goals for this race: not to finish last and ideally to beat my time from last year.
During the swim, I could see other people just ahead of me, so I did my best to keep pushing and managed to overtake a couple of people.
Finally, I was in transition. Again, this was an area where I thought I could improve on last year’s time – mainly because I no longer need to put in contact lenses! I’d chosen a spot close to the swim exit, so that my wetsuit wouldn’t have time to drain fully, which seemed to be a successful strategy for me.
I then set off on the run and was surprised that I managed to feel quite good from the start. Overall, the run wasn’t quite 5km (my Garmin had it as 4.85km, which seems about right when comparing it to the measured 5km course that used to be used for parkrun at this location), but I managed a faster pace than I’ve run at any parkrun recently, so think that getting back to Hugh’s running sessions is paying off. I also managed to pass a few people on the run, which is something that I rarely manage.
My best time last year was: 47:52.4, so I was pleased to get a PB tonight: 46:37.8 … and I wasn’t last
This was the day of the aquathlon, but my cold had got worse overnight and I felt really rough. I felt torn about what to do. I didn’t want to miss out, but I didn’t want to make myself worse. In the end, I was sensible and went back to bed whilst Stuart went off for the aquathlon. He was struggling with a slight injury to his leg, so he was just going to swim.
I turned over and felt so tired that I didn’t wake again until nearly 11am.
Images from the aquathlon:
This seems like an appropriate point to share this YouTube video on ‘Is it OK to pee in the ocean?’
In the afternoon, Graeme and Kat said that they would take everyone to Luz for scones. I didn’t go the previous week as I had been working in the afternoon, but I thought it would do me good to go out for a while, even though I was feeling really tired and not particularly hungry.
The scones were enormous… and they were served with Rodda’s clotted cream (the best-known Cornish brand). I had to try to teach people the difference between Devon and Cornish cream teas (Cornish = jam with cream on top; Devon = jam on top to hide the inferior cream).
After all of the scones had been consumed, we went for a walk. It was a lovely warm day and there were a surprising number of surfers in the water – surprising given that there was no surf! It is easy to see why this beach is popular with families with young children.
View of the beach at Luz. On top of the headland, it is possible to see the monument.
Some of the old buildings are attractive, including the church, which was built in 1637. It is actually the Roman Catholic church of Nossa Senhora da Luz (Our Lady of Light), but St Vincent’s Anglican congregation uses it with the gracious permission of the Portuguese Catholics.
The sea looked really inviting – if I hadn’t been ill, I would have definitely gone for a paddle!
Although I’m still tired from last Sunday’s swim, I had already entered tonight’s aquathlon (hosted by the lovely TryTri chaps), so I figured that I’d better just get on with it. We left home a bit late, and I didn’t do a great job of getting myself organised. I thought that I had picked up everything necessary for transition, but realised that I had left my inhaler and contact lenses in my bag, so I missed the briefing (and hat distribution) to go and get them. Fortunately, Stu was there to get a hat for me. I didn’t really have enough time to worry and just went straight into the water, which actually felt like a pleasant temperature.
After a quick wave at the camera, we were off. I had carefully positioned myself near the back of the pack, so I wasn’t squished in the initial brawl. We soon spread out and I was pleased to realise that I was breathing quite well. Unfortunately, my goggles were not doing as well, as I had to stop and empty them three times, which broke my rhythm.
The route was meant to be 750m, but my sighting wasn’t great, so I swam 980m… I really must work on that as I wasted quite a lot of time.
The course is 2.5 laps, so by the time I had swum 1.5 laps, it was starting to thin out a bit and I was pleased to realise that I wasn’t the very last person. Unfortunately, I was also aware that my arms were very tired from Sunday’s exertions, so I wasn’t able to pick the pace up. I pushed as hard as I could, but I know I was passed by at least 3 people in the final lap.
Eventually, I was at the end of the swim. Maybe I should have swum a little bit closer to the exit, but I was ready to stand up, and was relieved that I didn’t feel as dizzy as I normally do. Result! 🙂
It was then onto transition, which I know is a terrible discipline for me. If I could just strip off my wetsuit/hat/goggles, throw on some shoes and run, I’d be fine, but I’ve had blisters when I tried running without socks before, and so close to a triathlon, I didn’t want to risk it, so I put socks on. Then came the real time-wasting part: contact lenses. I hate running with my glasses on as they make me feel ill. This is partly because they’re not quite the right prescription, but at nearly £300 a pair, I can’t afford to waste money on something that I rarely wear. I put in my contact lenses as fast as possible and was off.
I managed not to battle my watch this time – I took the face of it off, removed my wetsuit and then clipped it back on again 🙂
T1 2:00.20 (36/37)
At this point, I was unaware that I was not the last person. I thought someone had exited the lake just after me (which they did) and I assumed that he was the very last person in the event… and I knew he would have left transition before me.
I always find the breathing hard when I first start running after swimming, but I just told myself to relax and enjoy it, which seemed to work. I’ve mumbled recently about feeling like I’ve only got one speed – slow – as a consequence of doing some long, slow runs, but I surprised myself by being able to move at a reasonable pace. I think the intervals with Coach Ant (Run Camp) and Huw/Steve (Southampton Tri Club) are finally starting to pay off.
I could hear a speedy runner coming up behind me, but I thought that there was no point in looking around as they would pass me soon enough. I was quite surprised when they spoke to me, and then realised that it was Stuart, who was clearly running very well. I had decided to wear my SOAS pink peacock tri kit as I’ve got a busy couple of days ahead of me and I want to wear my team SOAS kit on Sunday. It’s really comfortable to wear and has the added advantage of standing out really well. Stuart said that he recognised me from quite a long way off as my kit is so distinctive!
I like the run route for Eastleigh aquathlon as it’s essentially the same as the first parkrun that I used to attend, which is where I found my love for running. It’s a two lap course that I know inside out. A third of the way around is a slight incline, before a shady tree-lined section, followed by a (miniature) railway crossing and then an open path. There’s then a grassy section around a ‘bowl’ followed by a sharp down and up, before a gentler slope leading back across the railway line. There’s then one more steep up and over the railway line, before heading to the second lap/finish.
By the time I got to the first incline, I could see a runner ahead of me in distinctive green calf guards. It looked like he was slowing down, so I thought there might be a chance that I could catch him. This, and the enthusiastic encouragement from Becky who was marshalling, encouraged me to push on. I took a while for me to catch up with the chap, but I finally managed it at the bowl. I then headed back towards the start/finish, where the lovely Paul was waiting
I kept pushing on the second lap as I didn’t want to be overtaken. As I crossed the railway line, I realised that there were some competitors ahead. I started to push on, but realised that I probably wasn’t going to catch up with them, which frustrated me, but I didn’t want to push too hard as I want to save some energy for Sunday’s triathlon.
Towards the end of the race, I heard someone running behind me. It was a man with a fluorescent yellow shirt on. I didn’t think he was part of the aquathlon, so I wondered whether he was just someone out enjoying a run… but just in case, I started to pick up the pace a little more. This was a lucky guess, as it turned out that he was in the event!
Although I look tired in these photos, I was actually feeling really good and would have been happy to carry on and run another 5k. It turns out that my run was the best part of the event for me as I beat 4 people!
I really enjoyed tonight’s event. My super husband did brilliantly, finishing in 3rd place in a time of 31:11.10! Awesome result, Stu! The TryTri lads work well to make each event a success and they also put in a lot of effort to make ech competitor feel valued. The aquathlons are reasonably priced, with chip timing for each event meaning that the results were online by the time that I arrived home, and there was also a bottle of water for each entrant.
I now feel as well prepared as possible for Eastleigh Open Water Triathlon on Sunday. As usual, my aim is to finish, but I’m also hoping not to be last. My T2 is likely to be significantly faster than T1, and I’m hoping that my bike segment will compare favourably with others (probably more because of my fab Kuota Kharma than for my ability).
Have you got any races coming up? Which discipline do you think you need to practise the most?
After my long swim on Sunday, I was meant to go swimming with the Tri Club on Monday night… however, I had a fun night out planned with some former work colleagues. I tried to find a way to fit a swim in, but I would have had to get up very early to do it before work, and my lunch break was sandwiched between meetings on different campuses, so in the end it just wasn’t feasible. I know that people will say that if you want to find a way, it’s always possible to make things work, but I was feeling absolutely exhausted and thought that a little bit of extra time in bed and a chance for my arms to recover wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Yesterday, I had to spend the day in London for a work event. Luckily, the meeting didn’t finish too late, so I was able to get home in time to be able to do some of my training. I was meant to do a 45 minute bike ride, but I only had time to fit in 25 minutes before my track session. If I’d been better organised, I might have found a bit more time, but I’m not too worried about it (I cycle to and from work every day, so missing out on 20 minutes on my bike isn’t as bad as it might seem).
After cycling, it was time for my weekly track session with the local tri club. Huw was away, so the session was led by Steve, who’s also a really good coach. We were told to do the usual warm up (a one mile lap of the sports centre), but I still had to change from my bike shoes into trainers and lock my bike up, so I took a short cut. I’d assumed that I wouldn’t be able to catch the group, but I think that with a bit of effort, I would have made it.
After the warm up, we were told to do a deceptively simple pyramid session:
1 minute run; 1 minute recovery
2 minute run; 2 minute recovery
3 minute run; 3 minute recovery
4 minute run; 4 minute recovery
4 minute run; 4 minute recovery
3 minute run; 3 minute recovery
2 minute run; 2 minute recovery
1 minute run; 1 minute recovery
We were told the runs should be done at ‘steady’ pace, which was then modified to 5k pace. My best parkrun (5k) time in 2014 is 27:40, but I’m still aspiring to get a PB, so I tend to think of 5k pace as being 5:00/km. I managed an average of 4:53/km (moving pace), which means that I managed to achieved what I wanted to.
This evening, I had a choice between doing an RR10 (local off-road race) or doing a specific run as set by my coach. I didn’t finish work until after 6pm, so I decided that it would be best just to do the work out set by Coach Ant. However, I also combined it with a run with my friend, Teri. I ran to her house, and then we did a 10 minute warm up before alternating between 90 seconds at ‘race pace’ (5:00-6:00/km) with 2 minutes of jog recovery after each one. It was hard to run quickly as I’m very tired, but I managed all of the intervals at the appropriate pace.
I think I would have found it a difficult run, if I hadn’t had Teri for company. We would start discussing a topic, and then my Garmin would beep to warn me that it was almost time to run hard again, so we’d agree to pick up the narrative in our next jog break. Teri’s a much faster runner than me, so she went ahead on the intervals, but we regrouped for the jogs.
Tomorrow, I’ve got an aquathlon. Last time, I was still struggling with my arm, so I did the novice distance. This time, I think I need to tackle the sprint distance, but I’ll try to hold back a little as I’ve a triathlon on Sunday. On Friday, I’m cycling and swimming and then I’ll finally have a rest day on Saturday.
This evening, I watched an interesting video from CTC (Cyclists’ Touring Club). It’s part of a campaign to make cycling safer in the UK. I fully support it, but I’m not sure that all of the proposals will be practical:
If you’re in the UK and could like to support this campaign, please visit the website.
Thursday evening was my first aquathlon of the year at Lakeside. Last year, I did the novice event, and it was my intention to move up the full (sprint) distance… but that was before my shoulder injury. I spoke to the organisers and they said that as it was a mass start, I could make my decision when I was in the lake, which would give me an opportunity to see how my arm was feeling. That’s what I love about TryTri – they really do their best to accommodate everyone’s needs.
We then headed over to the start of the swim. This year, the events are chip timed, so I collected my chip before getting into the lake. It was very slippery, so several people did a ‘bottom shuffle’ to get into the lake. I was a little more dignified, but not much!
The water wasn’t unpleasantly cold, but I had spent so long getting myself organised that I didn’t really have enough time to acclimatise properly. I must remember to get in the lake earlier next time, so that I’m ready to swim when the race starts.
I’d love to be able to say that I had a great swim, but I didn’t (and the photos clearly show that my technique was terrible). My right shoulder was still in a lot of pain and it felt like the lap and a half took forever. Finally, I neared the end, so I started kicking frantically, to help with my blood circulation. This seemed to work as I didn’t feel light-headed as I emerged from the lake… but it did nothing for my clumsiness. I trip and managed to hit my knee, which was painful.
In transition, I was acutely aware of how slow I’d been, but I decided that I would wear sock anyway as my feet blistered when I did my last aquathlon without socks. I also had to remove my watch to get my wetsuit off. To try to save a few seconds, I decided not to put my contact lenses in, which, in hindsight, was a mistake.
I put my watch back on and headed off on a 2.5km lap as fast as I could, which turned out to be not very fast at all. Ben was out on the course cheering people on, which was great and I knew it wouldn’t take too long before I finished.
After crossing the railway line, Ian passed me with Sonia giving chase. They congratulated me on my swim – they clearly hadn’t realised that I’d only done the novice distance – oops.
By this point, I had remembered why I refuse to run with my glasses on – I always end up feeling motion sick, so I ran quite a lot of the race with my eyes closed, which is not something I would recommend to others!
Someone passed me, but I wasn’t ready to give up that easily, so I pushed harder and managed to get ahead again. There are a couple of downhills and short sharp inclines in the final 1km. These helped me to pull ahead a little bit further and in the final 400m, my coach passed me, on his way to winning the sprint event.
Eventually, I crossed the line where I was rewarded with a bottle of water and some delicious dried strawberries from Urban Fruit. I then cheered in the other participants, including my husband who missed out on 3rd place in the sprint event by less than a second.
I finished 12/16. My swim took 14:10 (13th) and my transition took 2:09 (13th), but my run made up for some of it as 12:55 was 10th! Overall, it took me 29:15 and I was 4th female finisher. This is quite disappointing as my results from last year’s aquathlon show that I finished in 27:52. Next month, I’ll be aiming to do the sprint distance.
A massive thank you to Paul A. Hammond for all of the lovely (and not-so-lovely) photos!
Tuesday started with a ‘fun’ aquathlon. Before my injuries, I had hoped that I might not be last or at least that I might not be last out of the water and that this would spur me on to run as hard as possible, but my painful arm put paid to that.
Originally, the aquathlon was going to be a 1200m swim, but this was amended to just 2 x 400m loops, although to make it more challenging, we had to get out and run around a cone between the two loops. The run was 3×1 mile loops, so before we got into our wetsuits, we went for a test run.
I had decided to try out my Team SOAS kit. I’ve worn the tri shorts lots as they are the most comfortable cycling shorts that I’ve ever tried, but I’ve never worn the tri top before. It was really comfortable, although perhaps I need a slightly smaller size.
After the run, I managed to put on my wetsuit, but because of my arm, it took a while, so I didn’t have long to get acclimatised to the water. I also spent some time faffing with my goggles. I haven’t quite worked out how to adjust the strap on them yet.
We were set off at 15 second intervals. I think if I hadn’t been injured, I might not have been set off first, but I know that I’m a weaker runner than all of the others.
I did just a few strokes before I realised that my goggles were filling up with water – doh! I stopped to empty and adjust them. My breathing was also bad as I hadn’t had much time to get used to having my face in the water. My arm was very painful and by the time I got to the rocks, I think I had been passed by everyone. As I rounded the corner, I realised that I had to make a decision – I could either quit after one lap or continue and complete the event. My arm was in pain, but it I figured that it couldn’t get any worse and my breathing was improving. As I neared the bank, I could see runners who were already on their second laps.
End of lap 1
Helen made the most of the photo opportunity
Neil asked whether I wanted to continue, but I decided that I needed to, so that I wouldn’t feel like I had quit everything on the holiday. I got back in the water and started swimming as well as I possibly could, but my arm was really hampering me, so it was mainly front crawl with just one arm.
Eventually, I got out of the water, ready for transition. Jose came over and helped me to remove my bad arm from my wetsuit, and I knelt down to put my contact lenses in. To save time, I decided to run without socks, but I didn’t dry my feet very well.
Whilst I was in transition, I saw Stu and Helen run past and 200m into my run, Jonno caught up with me. He was desperately trying to chase down Stu, who had passed him in the swim. I kept moving and soon completed my first loop.
On the second lap, I realised that my shorts are quite big for me and when they’re wet, they start to hang down a little bit, so I may invest in some smaller ones! I also noticed a patch on my left foot where my shoes was rubbing it. They are designed to be seam free, but something was definitely rubbing my foot. I kept going and when I got back to the start, people started clapping and I heard Bernie shouting to me about where I needed to finish the run, but I knew that I still had a third lap to do. I kept moving, but was aware that I was slowing down. As I reached the turn, I put in a big effort to improve my pace, so my final kilometre was my fastest one in the event. It wasn’t the kind of pace that I’d been hoping for, but at least it wasn’t terrible.
Overall, I finished last in the event, but even with my slow transition, it wasn’t the slowest one of the event. Coach Alan finished first, but Stu was the first triathlete over the line because of his strong swim and good run. Go Stuey!
The sun was out when we got back, so there was some time to go in the hot tub and also time to lounge in the sun with the lizards.
In the afternoon, Kat took us into the local village to explore the chocolatier. It was a small shop, but it smelled wonderful!
Stu and I just treated ourselves to a tiny bag of assorted chocolate pieces.
When we got back, I had time to get changed before the masseur, Peter, arrived. He was a nice chap who was originally from Dorset, but who had also raced in Cornwall, so there were quite a few events that we were both familiar with. Peter helped to loosen up my tight calves, but I don’t think that he really managed to do anything to my neck and shoulders, which were still aching.
Later on, there was a nutritional chat with Alan and Graeme. Graeme also talked about lots of different ways that people can trim their race times (including investing in race wheels and an aero helmet), but I don’t think I’m at that level yet. He also discussed the importance of practising transitions. I think that if I have laser eye surgery then that should help to speed up T1!
What are the best tips that you’ve heard to minimise your race times (apart from training!)?
After the previous day’s failure, I hoped that I’d be able to pull myself together for the triathlon, but I knew that it would be a challenge – I was the slowest runner in the group and one of the weakest swimmers. Because I was worried, I asked Graeme who my partner would be. He told me that I would be partnered with Stu, which had pros and cons. I know that Stu is one of the stronger swimmers and runners, but I felt sad that he had to be saddled with me just because I am his wife. I told him that, but he said he didn’t mind… however, I know that he is competitive at heart.
I dithered about whether I should do the aquathlon, or whether I would be better off joining the runners for a session at the track, so I spoke to Graeme about my doubts. Another of my fears was that I don’t like running in glasses. I’ve only done it twice: at an aquathlon in Eastleigh and at an aquathlon in Penzance – both times it felt odd and I felt queasy. Graeme agreed that if I would be happier putting in contact lenses in transition, then that’s what I should do. (I’ve been considering having laser eye surgery, but I save my thoughts on that for another post!)
We went to the beach and the route was explained. We set up our transition area on the deck of a cafe, and Graeme drew out a box to show the handover point for each team.
Stu swam first for us and made a fairly speedy transition from the sea swim to the run.
Stu’s transition
I managed to take quite a few photographs of the first wave of swimmers coming into transition.
Peet’s transition
Jenny
Jenny at the aquathlon
After I finished taking photos, I thought I should have a quick dip in the sea to get acclimatised, but as I got to the water’s edge, I realised that Stu was heading back down the cliff path, so I had to dash back up to the transition box. I then ran back down to the sea and threw myself in. Unfortunately, the water was much colder than I was expecting it to be, so I found it difficult to swim. One of the best tips that I was given by my running/tri coach was to spend some time floating face down when getting into open water, as this helps me to acclimatise quickly, but there was no time for that. I realised that I was breathing raggedly, but I didn’t want to let Stu down, so I pressed on.
When I got near to the edge, I started to unzip my wetsuit, so that I could flood it with water to make it easier to take off. I then ran up the beach with my hat and goggles still on. In transition, I put in my contact lenses, removed my wetsuit and hat and put on my trainers. I then started on the run.
I knew that I would be breathless, as I’ve struggled to run after swimming in the other aquathlons that I’ve done, but this was compounded by having to run up the cliff path. Hills are not my friend. There was a brief respite before another longer hill. the path then flattened a bit, but it was a gradual uphill until the turnaround point. All of the time, I was struggling to breathe and then I looked at my watch and saw just how slowly I was running. I felt such a sense of shame and disappointment that yet again, I was doing about 8 minutes per km. I never run that slowly at home and I had hoped that I would be doing much better. This made me feel upset and my ragged breathing got worse when I couldn’t stop myself from bursting into tears. That annoyed me even more as I had no real reason to cry, but I couldn’t stop myself. I finally reached the turnaround point and the run started to get better, but it still felt bad. I then made it back to the steps by the cliff and knew that Stu would be waiting for me on the beach.
After I tagged Stu, I spoke to Kat and said that I wasn’t sure that I could do another lap. She suggested that Alan could swim for me, but it wasn’t the swim that had bothered me. We agreed that I would swim with Alan and that he would then do the run. This made me feel slightly better, although I was still very angry with myself for being so useless. I had a think about my options and decided that perhaps if Alan were able to ‘run’ with me then perhaps I would be able to hold myself together a bit better and it wouldn’t be as bad. I then approached Graeme and suggested my new plan to him. He agreed that it would be OK, so I felt a bit better, although I was still annoyed with myself that I wasn’t mentally strong enough to run a few kilometres without someone else.
One of the lessons that I learned at the aquathlon is that getting a wet (and slightly sandy) wetsuit on is not an easy task. It took almost all of the time that Stu was swimming and running for me to reclothe myself! I then went down onto the beach in a slightly happier frame of mind. It wasn’t long before I had to set off on my swim. the water temperature seemed warmer and I was more relaxed, so it felt good… however, there were other swimmers who started quite a long time after me and almost all of them finished before me.
My transition was much slower than it had been the previous time, but I was focussing on calming my breathing down, so that the run would not feel so bad. Alan was ready and waiting by the time I had my contact lenses in, and we set off up the cliff path together. It felt easier the second time and my Garmin showed that I was moving at a much better pace. By the time we got to the top of the hill, I was managing 5-something per kilometre, which made me feel much happier and I felt able to maintain the pace. Although Alan was ‘pacing’ me, he didn’t really have to say or do too much – I just felt so much more relaxed.
In the end, I was the last person to finish the aquathlon, so team Smith was last overall, but I was proud that I managed to pull myself together to finish the event. My run splits show that I did the second 3km almost 3 minutes faster than the first one, so it was a negative split to be proud of.
In the afternoon, we went to a beautiful 50m outdoor pool for a swimming technique session. I’ve never seen a 50m pool before, let alone swum in one, so I was quite excited. As November is most definitely the off-season in the Algarve, the entire complex was deserted, which gave it quite an eerie and abandoned feel.
We all got into the pool, which was surprisingly cold. It always seems strange to me that the sea can be so much colder than a small still body of water. Our first drill was to practise sighting, using a technique called ‘crocodile eyes’. Coach Ant taught me to sight by looking forwards after taking a breath and before putting my head back in the water, so I found this really difficult to do. I usually breathe every three strokes and if I’m not going too fast then every 5 strokes, but I found it difficult to raise my head without taking a breath, so I don’t think I managed the drill very successfully. I should probably have asked what the timing should have been with sighting and breathing, but I didn’t think of that until much later!
We then practised drafting, which required people to get into their swimming pace groups. I was partnered up with Andy and Jennie, but it didn’t work very well as we all swim at different speeds. We had to practice drafting off someone’s feet first of all, before practising drafting off someone’s hip. It felt quite intrusive swimming so close to someone’s side and I’m not sure that I could feel the benefit, so I think that I would be more likely to try to draft off someone’s feet… if there’s ever anyone swimming at about the right speed for me!!!
Next, Graeme got out an inflatable buoy to get Andy to demonstrate how to turn. unfortunately, the buoy had other plans, so in the end, Andy moved it out of the way and demonstrated the technique without it. It involved swimming up to the point and then rolling onto your back for a second before moving off again at a right angle. At the time, I thought I’d got it, but thinking about it now, I’m not sure that it’s fully lodged in my brain. I’ll have to get Stuart to practise it with me in the pool.
It was then my turn to be filmed swimming by Kat. She said that I could do half a length and turn around, but I wanted to prove to myself that I could swim 50m with a reasonable stroke. I realised that I started too quickly, but pushed on and finished the first length. On the way back, I tried to slow down and think about all of the things that Chris (my swimming instructor) has told me about not raising my head when breathing, as well as remembering to use my legs, rather than just letting them trail behind me. I thought I’d done OK, but now I’ve seen the video, I can really see where I need to work on my technique.
When I returned to the others, they were involved in some handicapped races. I was the first to set off in the second wave, and I was quite pleased that I wasn’t last to finish, until I realised that this meant that I would have to go again. We did a couple more until there were just three of us left: Claire, Peet and I. Graeme came over and spoke to me and told me to swim a few strokes and then get out. I was a bit confused, but agreed to do so. I set off with Claire and Peet starting after me. When I went to get out, I realised that the side of the pool was quite high, so Graeme had to pull me out and I was then told to run to the other end of the pool and get in again. I got in a little bit too far from the end and had to swim very hard to ensure that I wasn’t beaten by Peet. Meanwhile, Claire had done the same on the other side. Peet had been swimming in the centre of the pool so he didn’t notice a thing and thought that he had been beaten fairly. It wasn’t until our evening meal that he was told what had happened! It was so funny!
The evening’s meal was a Kiwi BBQ, prepared by Graeme and Kat. The runners had had a talk/Q&A session about planning the training, which I had intended to go along to, but I was busy prepping veg and I think the rest did me good. As an alternative, the triathletes got to ‘Grill Graeme whilst grilling’. It was a relatively informal chat in the twilight by the barbeque where Graeme gave honest answers to anything we threw at him. I took notes as I thought it would be helpful for me to be able to refer back to Graeme’s pearls of wisdom:
Nutrition
Snack little and often.
Porridge is a good low GI carb for breakfast.
White bread, banana and honey is a good combination if you need to eat something, but are running late for training.
If doing a 40-50k ride + brick, avoid high heart rate zones and just have water and salt tablets. This will help to train your body to burn fat.
Ensure chocolate milk might be easier calories for you to absorb, if you have digestive problems whilst running.
Plan your food 10 days out from an event. Graeme finds it best to avoid fruit for three days before a race. It can be helpful to stock up on salt tablets before an event and ensure that you don’t over hydrate.
Malt loaf is good as a snack.
Brown rice is ideal the night before race. Suitable vegetables are peas and carrots. A salad made of tomatoes, avocado and feta with good quality olive oil is also a good option. It is sensible to eat early the day before a big event.
Most people consume 250-350 calories per hour on the run, so it is important to replenish your supplies.
Training
Remember to do speed work, intervals, hills, tempo etc for all disciplines.
The ideal training base is 9 sessions a week: 3 each of speed, strength and endurance – one for each discipline
If you plan well, it is possible to do two sessions a day, and this can be especially good training as you will get used to performing well when tired.
If training for a marathon as well as triathlons, it is essential to continue with speed work and long runs, but it is possible to get benefits from other sports, so some workouts can be adapted or dropped.
Alan also shared some advice about how he improved his cycling by using a power meter. A lot of people use too much energy in the cycle leg of a triathlon and then struggle during the run. Alan works at 70-75% of power for an ironman, with 80% being OK for a 70.3.
It is also important to work out your training speed according to your heart rate.
I found it a really informative session, although I’m sure that many more questions will come up as I start to train more and more and gain experience.
Triathlete | Blogger | Running Coach & Fitness Instructor
Ambassador: SOAS Racing
* Winfields Best Outdoor Bloggers 2018
* 2018 Running Awards nominee
* Naked Nutrition Top Fitness Bloggers 2017
* Winfields Best Outdoor Blogs 2017
* Feedspot Top 200 Running Blogs 2016
* Wimi Fitness 50 Best Women's Running Blogs August 2016
* Vuelio Top 10 UK Sports Blogs July 2016
* UK Blog Awards 2016 Best Health & Social Care blog nominee
* UK Blog Awards 2016 Best Lifestyle blog nominee
* Blogging Edge UK Sports Blogger of the Year 2015
* Bloggers' Lounge Health and Fitness Blogger of the Year 2015
As an overweight couch potato, I decided to turn my life around. I lost over 2.5 stone and now love keeping fit and healthy. In February 2013, I set myself a five year challenge to complete an iron-distance triathlon (2.4 mile/3.8k swim; 112 mile/180k bike; 26.2 mile/42.2k run).
Swimming: In the past 3 years, I've learnt to swim and completed a 17.5km swim around the Isles of Scilly in 2015. I've been chosen to be an ambassador for Swimathon in 2017.
Cycling: I cycle to work every day and am a Breeze cycling champion. I have a British Cycling Ride Leader Award level 1. In 2015, I supported the YMCA Tour de Y nearly 400 miles from Lake Windermere to London over 4 days. I've also cycled across the Japanese Alps and conquered various Cols (including Col D'Aspin and Peyresourde). I completed a 100 mile charity bike ride in 2016 whilst over 5 months pregnant.
Running: I'm a Run Director at Southampton parkrun, one of the largest parkruns in the UK. I'm also a UK Coach in Running Fitness. I ran throughout my pregnancy, completing parkrun on my due date in 30 minutes.
I've completed two half iron distance triathlons and train with Southampton Tri Club and SUTRI.
As well as swimming, cycling and running, I enjoy yoga and weight training. I've achieved a black belt in karate and competed in the British Teamgymnastics Championships.
Fat Girl to Ironman 